DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claims 2, 4, 6 as 12 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 2, line 2, “an inert gas” should read - - the inert gas - -.
Claim 4, line 2, “an inert gas” should read - - the inert gas - -.
Claim 6, line 2, “an inert gas” should read - - the inert gas - -.
Claim 12, line 2, “an inert gas” should read - - the inert gas - -.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 – 3, 6 and 8 – 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Preshaw WO 2005038332.
Claims 1 and 2, Preshaw discloses a bearing system comprising: a housing 3 (Fig. 1)(pg. 6, l. 33) having an interior; a bearing (comprising roller elements 2)(pg. 6, l. 33) mounted in the interior of the housing, the housing being configured to contain a quantity of grease or oil; and means for introducing an inert gas into the interior of the housing (pg. 7, ll. 19 – 20: “[t]he outer end cap 4 of the bearing assembly is provided with a gas supply inlet 8 and a grease supply inlet 9”).
Claim 3, Preshaw discloses a shaft (shaft portion 13)(pg. 6, l. 35) extending through the housing and at least two seals (elastomeric seal 12 – pg. 7, l. 4 and sealing arrangement 5,7 – pg. 7, ll. 6 – 7) positioned between the shaft and the housing, wherein an inner ring of the bearing is mounted on the shaft.
Claim 6, Preshaw discloses the means for introducing an inert gas comprising a pressurized container of the inert gas (pg. 7, ll. 21 – 22: “[t]he gas is dried and set to an appropriate pressure before being supplied to the bearing assembly.
Claims 8 – 10, Preshaw discloses a shaft 13 extending through the housing 3 and at least two seals (seal 12 and seal arrangement 5,7) positioned between the shaft and the housing, and the quantity of grease or oil filling a first portion of the interior of the housing, wherein an inner ring of the bearing is mounted on the shaft, wherein the inert gas is substantially oxygen free (pg. 7, ll. 22 – 23: “[t]he gas used is preferably air or an inert gas such as nitrogen”), and wherein a second portion of the housing interior is filled with the substantially oxygen-free inert gas (pg. 7, ll. 24 – 27: “[t]he gas and grease supply inlets are shown in figure 1 positioned at 180° to each other in the outer end cap 4, but they may be positioned at different orientations to each other in the outer end cap”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Preshaw WO 2005038332 as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Mikami et al. USPGPUB 20110306429.
Preshaw does not expressly disclose the grease being a mineral grease comprising calcium or lithium.
Mikami teaches that it was known to a mineral grease comprising calcium or lithium, in order to provide an inexpensive bearing lubricant with excellent oil film formability ([0019]: “[i]n using the grease composition of the present invention for the universal joint for the propeller shaft, it is preferable to use the mineral oil such as turbine oil as the base oil and the metal soap such as the lithium soap as the thickener because it is necessary that the turbine oil and the lithium soap are inexpensive and are excellent in oil film formability”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the bearing system of Preshaw, such that the grease is a mineral grease comprising calcium or lithium, as taught by Mikami, for the purpose of providing an inexpensive bearing lubricant with excellent oil film formability.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 5, 7, 12 and 13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Conclusion
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/PHILLIP A JOHNSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617